181–190 of 212 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://worldhistorycommons.org/marshall-islands-stick-chart It’s amazing they can read such nuance.
Look at something long enough, and you begin to intuit the patterns instinctively.
The name is perfect. "Etak" refers to a system of navigation used by Micronesian and Polynesian seafarers to navigate from island to island in the vast Pacific Ocean. Much like this device, it operates by "augmented dead reckoning" (as it says in TFA). The etak system of navigation involves navigating by stars and ocean swells to get the heading, but a key issue when navigating by dead reckoning over long distances i…
I've read somewhere that part of the method they intuited their way was to read the waves. As faraway land masses can affect the shape of waves, supposedly these navigators could "see" beyond the horizon due to how the swell was behaving. I can sort of see that in a mind's eye, with rings of waves spreading as they bounce off obstacles in water. But that's bird's view of a miniature -- and seeing that from the surfac…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look at something long enough, and you begin to intuit the patterns instinctively.
Instinctive things are things the entire species are born with. Things you pick up via experience (“nurture”) can never be “instinctive”.
> 1. A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
> 2. An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look at something long enough, and you begin to intuit the patterns instinctively.
Instinctive things are things the entire species are born with. Things you pick up via experience (“nurture”) can never be “instinctive”.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I couldn't disagree with you more. Patents exist to reward research or invention that results in practicable ideas. Entrepreneurialism is not (and should not be) part of that.
Ideas are cheap. Execution is everything.
Somewhat off topic. What do big military submarines use these days to navigate? Do they have nav systems based on topographic data of the sea floor? (I dont know if it is mapped to the degree its possible). Could that be read accurately with only passiv sensors? I think you could read it perfectly with sonar whatever that may have evolved into these days. I guess they could reach depth where they can poke an extraord…
That the system would only show you your destination, but not how to get there is very appealing to me (as well as its display). I'd pay for a CRT Waze skin and the option to turn off turn-by-turn navigation.
Alright fine 'six tapes to cover the San Francisco bay area' is not so recognisable, and pretty funny, but otherwise!
One the one hand this is a cool story about real technology pioneers. On the other hand, this is a story about people building technology that was so ahead of its time that it had no chance of turning into a good product. Too expensive, too unreliable, too complicated. I think there are some obvious parallels here to General Magic and the Apple Newton. Very cool technology. Impressive demos. But ultimately the produc…
This is one of the reasons why I think patents are important, because it allows them to profit from their inventions, and for the inventions to be reused later by others, even if the product was "too soon". They invented innovative technology, tried to build a real product, they should be able to make some money from others picking up the baton -- and presumably they did, when they sold the company through the chain…
> The second key invention was a ‘heading up’, moving map display. This meant that the vehicle remained at the center of the screen and the map moved and turned under the vehicle. What you saw ahead of you in the windshield was what was displayed on the screen. This proved highly intuitive. Later on they talk about "heads up" map digitizing, did this mean the map rotated as the operator digitized the street? Seems qu…